Archbishop says civil partnership not enough

Civil partnership does not go far enough in fully recognising the love of gay and lesbian people, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said.

He said the forthcoming referendum is not just a political issue, not just about individuals, it’s about something that is very important for social cohesion in our society and to change it within a very rapid period of time is something we should really think about.

“We have to find ways in which gay and lesbian people can have their love fully recognised in an equal but different manner,” said Archbishop Martin. “We have to find ways of examining that and I don’t think we have done that far enough. I think civil partnership is not adequate, I think it could be tweaked.”